Secrets
by MollyJaney
Summary: Set after the events of Death Bringer. About Valkyrie's struggle with her secrets, foremost Darquesse. Maybe Hansard/Valkyrie, and possibly Dexter/Valkyrie, if I feel like it. Please read. Contains action, romance, drama, suspense, tragedy, maybe humor.
1. Condemn

**This is my first ever FanFic, so it might be terrible. It will probably get no reads, so I'm just talking to myself. Apparently that's the first sign of insanity. Well then, I'm screwed.  
>SO, yeah, it's set after the events of Death Bringer, so when book 7 comes out, it will clash with that storyline.<br>I'm not really sure of the rating, it might get a bit... well... heated, later on :)  
>I don't really have an overall plot line either. This is all based on dreams. Yes, I know, "It does not do well to dwell on dreams<strong>**", but I'm _seriously_ bored.** **As you can tell from this, I go off on random tangents, so this may be a terrible story. But I've babbled too much already, so go on, read, then review PLEASE!  
>DISCLAIMER: I don't own Skulduggery Pleasant, or any of it's characters. Derek Landy does. The genius.<br>**

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><p>Valkyrie and Skulduggery sat in the Bentley outside the Sanctuary in Roarhaven. It was the middle of August, but that didn't stop the ever-persistent rain from pouring down around them, rattling on the windshield. Stupid Irish weather.<p>

"You want to do WHAT?" Skulduggery practically screamed, unlike his usual calm demeanour.

"Skul, you and I both know that it's time. I have to do this", Valkyrie replied, tears ever so slowly creeping their way into her eyes, and choking her voice. She pushed them away. She had to be a big girl now.

"This is practically suicide Val. You don't understand. This is a secret that has to be kept between us."

"No. This is MY secret, and I don't want to keep it like this any longer. The council need to know."

"They need to know that I'm Darquesse."

* * *

><p>Skulduggery glared across the car to her. Why didn't he understand how much she needed to do this? How much the secret was tearing her apart inside?<p>

"Skulduggery, if I tell them, they could help! They could figure out what's going to make her come out again, and prevent it. They could help me tame her, keep her inside. Look, I know it seems drastic, but it's not like we're going to tell Guild or anything. This is Ghastly and Erskine we're talking about!"

"What about Madame Mist, and the rest of the Sanctuaries. Do you think they could really keep something like this a secret? Just because we have allies on the council, it doesn't mean we can tell them this. They would have to alert the Elder Mages from across the world. London and New York would be over here in an instant. The system would crash into chaos. Darquesse is going to end the world Val, they can't let something like this go."

"Darquesse is going to end the world? _I'm_ going to end the world! I have to tell them, not just for me, not just so I can get this secret off my chest, not so I can stop all the lies and deceit, not because I hate lying to my friends. Not _allies_, friends!"

Valkyrie closed her eyes for a second, catching her breath, fighting back the stream of tears that threatened to spill onto her cheeks. She and Skulduggery had never had an argument like this before.

"Not for all of that. But for you, for the Elders, the Sanctuary, and the rest of the bloody world! For my parents, and for Alice! Darquesse is going to destroy the world, and I'm going to kill everybody! We've seen it; the Sensitives are still having their visions. I'm doing this to save everyone; it's the only way you all have a chance to live. I need help, I can't do this alone!"

Skulduggery looked Valkyrie. His apprentice, his associate, his friend. No, more than that. He wouldn't admit it, not to anyone, least himself, but these past few years he'd felt a connection between the girl that he hadn't felt in _so_ long. She was becoming, every day, more and more like a... like a _daughter._

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><p>"Valkyrie, you know, you don't have to go through this alone. I'm here, I can help you. Going to the Elders is the wrong move"<p>

"But they can _help _me!" she cried, not caring about the steady flow of tears dripping onto her T-shirt.

Skulduggery's voice dropped suddenly, until it was almost inaudible. If they hadn't have been sat in the car, centimetres away, she wouldn't have heard his whisper.

"Valkyrie, they won't help you, they'll condemn you".


	2. Martyr

**I'm back! So this is chapter 2. I really have no clue how long this story is gonna be, it could be 5 chapters, it could be 20 chapters. I have a plot line, but it has no ending. Maybe I will just carry it on forever. We'll see :D  
>I am gonna try to update every 2 days at least, but that probably won't happen.<br>Please review !  
><strong>DISCLAIMER: I don't own Skulduggery Pleasant, or any of it's characters. Derek Landy does. The genius.<strong>**

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><p>Valkyrie grabbed the door handle and wrenched the door open. The rain was still pouring down, but she barely noticed it.<p>

"I don't need to listen to this. I'm telling them"

She started towards the Sanctuary door.

"Valkyrie. They'll lock you up, they'll do tests on you, they'll take your life away from you"

Valkyrie turned around sharply, her soaking hair whipping around, causing a spray of water to splash on the pavement.  
>" I don't care! Do you hear me? I'd rather they do that than let me hurt all these people! I'd rather they kill me!" Valkyrie screamed.<p>

Skulduggery stared at her. He thought of how much she'd grown up since they first met , at Gordon's funeral, then later in that stuffy solicitors office all those years ago. He thought of all the transformations she'd made, she'd had to make, in order to fit in with this lifestyle. Because of him.

Stephanie Edgley to Valkyrie Cain.  
>Mortal to Magic.<br>Schoolgirl to Detective.  
>Innocent Girl to Mature Woman.<br>And now, Hero to Martyr.

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><p>"I can't let you do that" he whispered. Rain dripped off the rim of his hat, splashing onto his leather gloves that Valkyrie had bought him for Christmas. The first decent present she had bought him in years. But he had appreciated all of them. After all, she was only a child; she couldn't make those big decisions.<p>

Or so he had thought.

Only now was he realising how wrong that had been. Valkyrie had been making choices for years. Joining Skulduggery. Choosing her name. Rescuing him from the Faceless Ones. Going to Nye. And now, sentencing herself to death, or as near as possible, to save her loved ones.

"I can't let you do that" he repeated, but with more conviction. He was not going to lose her. She was all he had left.

Skulduggery raised his palms, and pushed the air, creating a wall that curved around Valkyrie, trapping her on all sides.

"Hey!" she shouted over the rain, which was now hammering down over their heads.  
>"You can't do this, let me go!"<p>

"No. I'm sorry, I don't want to hurt you, but you're not setting a foot in that building"

"Oh really? Well, we'll see about that"

Valkyrie pushed the air beneath her, propelling her over the invisible wall, towards her mentor. Before he could react, she pushed again, twisting her wrist, shooting a stream of air toward him that curved to his left, making it virtually impossible to dodge or deflect.  
>Typically, Skulduggery did. He swerved and ducked, and pushed air at Valkyrie, knocking her off her feet into a puddle.<br>Valkyrie hissed in pain, causing Skulduggery to automatically bend down to help her.  
>She took his knock in concentration as an opportunity. Valkyrie jumped up, kicked him back into the car, turned, and ran to the doors.<br>Skulduggery vaulted after her, grabbing onto her black coat as she crashed through the doors, sending them both rolling onto the floor of the Sanctuary entrance hall.

Their sudden entrance raised a few eyebrows from agents, but most people carried on their way.

Both Skulduggery and Valkyrie rolled out of their tumble on the floor, landing facing each other with fists ready.

"Val, I don't want to hurt you, but I will continue to use force if you insist on this"

"Well, yes, I do. This conversation is over. You can't stop me. I am going in. Do you know why? Because I'm willing to hurt you"

Valkyrie hurled the ball of fire she had been holding in her hands, and sprinted down the corridor, knocking over an agent with a stack of papers in his hands, sending sheets and forms flying.  
>Skulduggery pursued her, leaping over the confused agent.<p>

Valkyrie reached the waiting area to the Elder's chamber, and ran straight into a pair of Cleavers.

"Uh, Hi. Erm, I need to see the Elders. Now. So I'll just..." She nodded towards the Chamber door, and edged between the guards. They showed no resistance.

_Hmm_, she thought. _They must recognise me enough to trust me. Or maybe they don't think I'm a threat. Ha! I'm supposed to end the world. Threatening enough?  
><em>

Skulduggery burst into the room, leaped over the Cleavers, and clawed his fingers around Valkyrie's collar, pulling her back.

"NO! You're not going in there!"

"Let go of me" Valkyrie hissed through gritted teeth.

After a few seconds, when it became clear he had no intention of doing so, Valkyrie used her ring to snatch the shadows from the edges of the room, and sent a wave of darkness crashing into Skulduggery's legs, knocking him of his feet. As he went down, he swung his leg, also knocking Valkyrie of her feet. She landed on top of him, in front of the doors. He pushed her back, but she cushioned the air beneath her, using it to spring back up and slam into Skulduggery, sending them both tumbling on the floor, crashing through the doors, and landing on the floor before the Elders.

Valkyrie looked up. Her vision blurred from the landing, she had smacked her head against the floor.  
>She saw a group of people standing a few feet in front of her, staring at her and Skulduggery. She thought she recognised Ghastly among them.<p>

"Um, sorry for intruding, but this is, well, kinda important".


End file.
